All Forum Posts by: Kim Younkin

@Account Closed, my intent was not to judge her as a person, and I'm sorry if you were offended. My point was directly related to the vein of the thread's comments about gurus charging exorbitant money for course fees and preying on people who think they'll get instantly rich if they take that course. We all know that real estate guru courses CAN be a scam, where people say they've done something that they haven't--their real estate business is comprised of talking about doing real estate but never having done it. My point about the shoes was to underline that it was a red flag to ME. I'm not going to pay thousands of dollars for a course taught by someone who doesn't look professional. That's just me.

Hey, @Joshua Grieser and welcome! You might want to check out COREE since you're new to investing--they have lots of informative meetings that'll fill up your learning curve nicely! www.centralohioreia.com. Have fun!

Welcome to BP, @Marta Natalia! From a native, thanks for the kind words about Columbus. Since you're in Cleveland, I thought I'd pass on this super helpful neighborhood guide @James Wise created for the Cleveland area. https://www.biggerpockets.com/blogs/4704/42419-cleveland-neighborhood-grades. James is pretty active here on BP. I haven't met him but I've read a lot of his posts and blogs here and am impressed. Check them out and maybe you can find info you're looking for from some of his stuff. Cheers!

That is very interesting, @Robert Leach. Thanks!

@Stephanie Corral, tagging on to what @Paul Winka just said, I was new to real estate investing a year ago and paid a nominal fee to join a local REIA club, and I was pretty floored to learn how much the gurus wanted for their courses. They'd come in to our local group and speak at a main meeting that my fee paid for, and then try to upsell people to their weekend seminar where we were "guaranteed to learn it all." One woman gave great, great content--truly--but she claimed to be a gazillionaire, and her shoes had holes in them! She did have good content but if she can't buy new $25 shoes at Target with her zillions for a public presentation, I know for damn sure I'm not paying $3K for her weekend seminar so "I can be rich, too." Has she really flipped a house? Or is she just saying she has?

I agree with the other posters that your nominal REIA fees to learn as much as you can before doing are an investment, not a cost. Just be very wise about which ones you pay, and like someone said above, sock the rest into your capital kitty. Have fun!

Thanks for beating me to it, David! :)

Hi, @Meghan Rowe! I just sent this info to another new investor here on BP from Westerville -- some local groups you might want to check out. COREE (www.centralohioreia.com) is a member group that you can visit once for free; check out their website for meeting schedules and a free pass to download. Also, there's a group run by a man named Ed Wachsman that's having a meeting this Thursday night. Here's a snippet from a flyer I got from him today:

This month’s landlording meeting is scheduled from 6:00 PM to about 9:00 PM this coming Thursday, May 26th, at Tommy's Pizza, 4279 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. (Rte. 161) in Dublin between Riverside Drive and Sawmill Road. This is a free meeting – there is no charge for you to attend – and you are welcome to invite other investors, landlords, and those who are new and/or exploring the possibilities of the business. The Agenda: Q & A, Landlording and Fire Safety, Networking, Marketing – Please see details below. Q & A: We’ll use the first 45 minutes or so to answer your questions and discuss your concerns. Any pertinent issues including management, screening, buying and selling rental properties and real estate in general, financing, maintenance, pest control, etc. are fair game. 

Best of luck to you!

Welcome, @Seth Berko! This is a great place to find information and resources galore. I would also suggest you check out some local investors' group. COREE (www.centralohioreia.com) is a member group you can visit with a free pass to check out before you commit. There's also an investors' meeting run by a man named Ed Wachsman that has a meeting on Thursday night. Here's a snippet from a flyer I got from him today:

This month’s landlording meeting is scheduled from 6:00 PM to about 9:00 PM this coming Thursday, May 26th, at Tommy's Pizza, 4279 W. Dublin-Granville Rd. (Rte. 161) in Dublin between Riverside Drive and Sawmill Road. This is a free meeting – there is no charge for you to attend – and you are welcome to invite other investors, landlords, and those who are new and/or exploring the possibilities of the business. The Agenda: Q & A, Landlording and Fire Safety, Networking, Marketing – Please see details below. 

Good luck!

You're welcome, @Kari Miller, and great great pointers you gave to Nathan. - Kim